


Winter Explosions

by Zephyrfox



Series: Legends in the Multiverse [3]
Category: GoldenEye (1995), James Bond (Craig movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU, Elemental!Alec, Gen, Set just before CACW, Supernatural Elements, unplanned universe hopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 03:56:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10677177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zephyrfox/pseuds/Zephyrfox
Summary: Alec Trevelyan meets Bucky Barnes. There's fire, an explosion, and kittens.





	Winter Explosions

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Wrong Answer](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7783075) by [jaimistoryteller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaimistoryteller/pseuds/jaimistoryteller). 



> Not all versions of Alec Trevelyan that find themselves in another universe are the same as the Alec Trevelyan in the Real Legend verse. They still have the same goal - find a way to survive and adapt to their new circumstances.

 

Alec woke slowly. A vague feeling that something was wrong nagged at him.

Something nudged his side.

“Hey, are you awake yet?”

It was an odd accent. American blurred by Russian blurred by something else.

He opened his eyes to a depressingly familiar sight — the ceiling of a warehouse.

“Good. You’re awake. Now push that button over there and turn this off.”

He sat up and looked to his left. A man clad in blue jeans and a red Henley sat there, arms outstretched. One arm was handcuffed to the wall, and the other — consisting of silver-colored metal plates — was seemingly stuck to the side of a metal cabinet.

“If you’re done eyeing me, get up and push the damn button.”

He blinked a couple of times. The man was still there. “Who are you?”

“What do you mean, who am I?”

He arched a brow. “You seem to understand English, so I presume you understand the meaning of that question.”

“I’m James.” The man huffed, annoyed. “Press the god-damned button!”

That name shook him. He shot to his feet and spat, “You are _not_ James Bond!”

Why was this man trying to pretend to be his James? To trick him? Granted his lover had had many faces over the decades to hide his true age, but James had always let him know a change was imminent. In fact, he knew what James’ next few bodies would look like.

“What? Who?” The man calling himself James looked confused, then shook his head in exasperation. “Fine, just call me Barnes, okay? Now, _push the button!”_

He eyed Barnes warily, wondering if the other man _should_ be set free. He had no idea how he’d gotten to this warehouse, or who Barnes really was.

He reached for his flame and wind to gather them around him as a precaution and headed towards the indicated button, ignoring the sarcastic, “Finally!” flung after him. He’d gone only a pace before he stopped short, stunned. The place inside him where the sense of fire and air resided was… gone.

His eyes shot open, and he spun, staring at Barnes in shock and anger. “Where are they? They're gone!”

Barnes looked confused. “Who are gone? Look, buddy, You seem to have an amnesia problem, and while I sympathize — boy, do I sympathize — we need to get out of here, so pull it together and get me free!”

Thoughts raced through his mind. Where exactly was he? Was Barnes a friend or foe? Could he be neither, just a neutral party, perhaps? How did they end up in this warehouse together?

Automatically clocking the various exits, he started once more for the button. When he pressed it, an almost subliminal humming whined into silence.

At the same time, there was a clank as Barnes’ metal arm hit the floor. That was immediately followed by the screech of stressed metal popping.

He turned to see Barnes breaking the handcuffs holding his other arm.

Barnes stood up and turned an unexpectedly charming smile on him. “Thanks, buddy.”

“This is _not_ what I thought I’d find, when I learned about this little meeting.” A man’s voice had them both spinning towards the sound.

“You shouldn't be free, and _you_ shouldn’t be conscious.”

A tall man stood in front of them, cold eyes narrowed. His dark hair fell to his shoulders in waves, and he wore an elaborate green and yellow costume.

The man walked forward, studying him.

He tried to move, but couldn’t. He could only blink his eyes and breathe. By the sudden amusement in the man’s eyes, he knew the man was responsible.

“Loki.” Barnes’ growl was low, through clenched teeth.

Alec would have frowned if he could. The Norse god of mischief? But the gods, whatever they might once have been, hadn’t been interested in the mortal realm for millennia. Who was this man who claimed godhood?

Loki’s green eyes stared into his, as though boring into his brain. “Interesting. You are _not_ who I expected to be in there.”

 _What?_ He was tired of not knowing or understanding what was going on. He reached for his flame again, hoping that he’d find it this time.

Once more he failed. He mentally ground his teeth in frustration.

The corners of Loki’s eyes crinkled. “Oh, this is priceless. Poor, misplaced elemental. There is nothing there for you to find.”

Loki’s head tilted, studying him again. Then Loki straightened. “I know just the thing. We’ll have you right as rain in a jiffy. Well. After a fashion.”

There was a bright flash that left him blinking away spots as Loki’s laughter rang through the air.

The spots in his eyes faded along with the laughter. When he could see again, Loki had disappeared and he could move.

Barnes watched him suspiciously. “What did Loki mean by that?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” He glared at Barnes, becoming aware of a something cold expanding under his sternum. He rubbed his chest. It didn’t exactly hurt, but it was uncomfortable and felt like it could interfere with his breathing.

Then it _was_ interfering with his breathing, and he fell to his hands and knees, gasping for air.

“Shit.” Barnes was kneeling beside him, pounding his back. “Try to take deep breaths, slow and easy,”

The pounding wasn’t helping, but he couldn’t move away. He glared at Barnes in between bouts of coughing.

Barnes was muttering something about blonds with breathing problems when he felt something give way in his chest.

He managed to drag in one lungful of air before he coughed out a huge mass that turned into a spray of ice and snow as it left his mouth.

He was vaguely aware of Barnes falling away from him, swearing, as shock made him inhale in surprise. He started coughing again, choking on ice and snow as it sprayed from his mouth.

This time, though, he managed to clear his airway and finally breathe.

His chest heaved as he drew in great lungfuls of air until he could feel the panic of asphyxiation receding.

“Soooo…. you’re a mutant?” Barnes’ voice sounded unexpectedly close.

He turned his head; Barnes was standing next to him, looking at him warily. “No. I’m an elemental. But Fire and Air, not Cold and Water.”

He concentrated. He could still feel the cold mass in his chest, but it seemed settled, almost as if it were meant to be there.

Barnes nodded, even though the explanation didn’t appear to make sense to him. “Whatever you say, pal. We should get out of here before our other playmates come back, but I need to find my backpack first.”

He climbed to his feet and asked, “Playmates? Backpack?”

“The guys that attacked me, remember? You jumped in to help me fight them off.” Barnes waved his hand towards the spot where he’d been restrained. “They won, by the way.”

“Right.”

“When they dragged us in here, they dropped my backpack. I need to find it.” Barnes started off in a search pattern.

Alec shrugged to himself and fell into step. “What’s so important about your backpack? What’s in it?”

Barnes stopped, turning to him with a somber look in his eyes. “Me. Everything that I can remember.”

He recalled Barnes saying something about being familiar with memory issues. “Ah.”

“Yeah.” Barnes restarted his search, calling back over his shoulder, “We weren’t formally introduced. What do I call you besides buddy or pal?”

Alec absently scratched his chin and froze. The acid scars from Arkhangelsk were gone. This couldn’t be his body. What the hell? He needed information, and Barnes was his only source at the moment. “Call me Alec.”

“Hello, Alec. Nice to meet you. Now that we’re properly acquainted and all, you can call me Bucky.”

Bucky? Why would a grown man want to be called by such a childish nickname? Alec shrugged mentally and headed toward a piece of metal that looked reflective. “I don’t remember the fight. Why were those men targeting you?”

“Probably wanted me as a lure for Captain America,” Bucky said absently, searching through a pile of junk.

“Who?” He surreptitiously studied his face in the polished metal sheet. It was his own face, but not.

Bucky stood up, frowning at him. “Look, pal, I know you have amnesia, but just how much time have you lost? Everyone knows Captain Stupid Insane Risk Taker.”

“Not me.”

Bucky studied him. “Big alien invasion in New York a couple years ago mean anything to you? Four Helicarriers crashing into the river in Washington D.C. ringing any bells?”

He shook his head no as he processed the information and added it to what he already knew. His fire and wind had been gone when he woke up. The water and cold Loki had replaced them with weren’t in the same place inside him, and he had no control over them. His face wasn't his, and yet it was. He had no idea what incidents Barnes was referring to. All that and Loki’s existence told him that he wasn’t in his own world any more.

Panic filled him, and he tried to tamp it down. How was he going to get home? He had to get back to James. He took a deep breath, feeling the cold mass in his chest move. It was a reminder that he needed to learn how to control the ice and snow.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on his changed abilities.

“Wow!”

He opened his eyes at Bucky’s exclamation. Fluffy white flakes of snow were drifting towards the floor. He grinned at Bucky, and then experimented. First he turned the snow into light, powdery flakes, and then into heavy, wet snow.

He stumbled forward a step, shocked, when something splattered into the back of his head.

The snowfall stopped abruptly and he spun, glaring at Bucky, who had the temerity to smirk at him. “C’mon, Alec, let’s get going. I found my backpack.”

Bucky was now wearing a leather jacket that looked almost as battered as the backpack he held up for Alec to see.

He huffed a laugh and gestured towards the door to the stairwell. “After you.”

 

~~~~

 

They made their way down the stairs, Bucky leading the way.

“Where are we?”

“Bucharest.”

“Ah.” How the hell had he wound up in Bucharest? He supposed that was part and parcel of ending up in another body in another reality. He stopped short when he realized he had no memory of what had he been doing before he woke up here. Sleeping, maybe? What was the last thing he remembered? Talking to Bogdan about… something he couldn’t remember.

Bucky looked back at him questioningly.

He shook his head and pushed the questions away. “It’s nothing.”

“Right.” Bucky eyed him skeptically.

The smell of fruit hit him as they left the stairwell and entered the main floor of the warehouse. Crates were stacked high, with various types of fruit peeking between the slats.

“Plums.” He didn’t bother disguising his distaste.

Bucky paused and looked back at him. “You don’t like plums?

He shook his head and kept looking for the exit. He spotted it and changed direction.

Bucky took a few long strides to catch up. “Are you kiddin’ me? You have to try my plum coltunasi. They’re delicious.”

He slanted a look of disbelief at Bucky. “Plum coltunasi?”

“Yep. Picture little pillows of dough, filled with delicious plum. I’ll make them for you. You’ll love them.”

They stepped out into the cold sunshine, only to be greeted by yelling.

“Here we go again. What do these guys _want?”_ Alec groaned, and decided to defer to the local with more more at stake. They seemed to be most interested in Bucky. “Do we run or fight?”

The sound of pistols shooting at them decided things. They were unarmed.

“I don’t think we have a choice. Let’s get going.”

He nodded, realizing that Bucky didn’t want to get trapped in the warehouse. They turned and ran down the alley, away from the gunmen.

At the end, they scrambled up onto the fire escape of the next building. They managed to get through the second storey window before the men chasing them got to the end of the alley.

Alec looked back to see them milling around in confusion, searching for their prey amidst the boxes and dumpsters.

Bucky reached for his arm and tugged. “C’mon, you got a death wish or somethin’ too?”

Somewhat bemused by what Bucky was muttering _—_ _damn suicidal blonds —_ Alec nonetheless picked up his pace and followed.

They were in an abandoned apartment building, and Bucky was headed for the stairs.

An idea came to him, and he smirked. “This is an abandoned building.”

“So?” Bucky slanted a curious glance at him.

“If those men follow us in here, and the building catches fire —”

“They won’t be interested in us,” Bucky interrupted, eyes gleaming with interest.

“Exactly.” He missed his flame, but he always relished the chance to make a fire in the ‘normal’ way.

They grinned at each other, visions of flames dancing in their heads.

“Good thing I found my backpack. I’ve got some primacord in there.”

Alec frowned. That would solve some of their potential timing problems, but — “You just… randomly carry around primacord?”

“Nah. I picked some up this morning. I need to rig up some… warm welcomes around the place I’m living.”

Deciding not to press further, Alec nodded. “That’s lucky for us then.”

Then they split up, looking for combustible material to pile in the rooms of the ground floor.

When they had their piles of kindling prepared, Bucky handed him a lighter. One end of the primacord was on the floor in front of him. The rest of the cord wound around piles in some of the other rooms.

He nodded to Bucky. “You ready?”

“Yeah. Just don’t set that off until _after_ I’ve gone past, all right?”

He grinned. “No promises. You’d better be quick.”

Bucky clapped him on the shoulder with more force than was strictly necessary, and said, “I’ll be back.”

He snorted as he watched Bucky’s broad shouldered back slip out the door. He missed James. Hopefully they would find a way to be together soon. That is, if he managed to get back to his own reality.

Soon enough he heard yelling and pounding feet approaching.

“Heads up!” Bucky yelled, following that by vaulting over the pile that Alec was sheltering behind and grinning at him.

He grinned back and lit the cord. “Run!”

He took off for the nearby door, Bucky at his heels.

Once out of the building, they jogged a short distance away and turned back to admire their handiwork. Flames were licking out of the windows already, and a gas tank exploded.

“Oh shit.”

“What?”

“Up there.” Bucky pointed to one of the third storey windows.

Alec could see movement against the smoke and squinted. Then he spotted a small shape on the fire escape. A larger shape was at the window, pushing another smaller shape out.

Before he could say anything, Bucky was dashing back to the building, shrugging out of his jacket as he ran. He caught the ladder for the fire escape and began climbing.

Once on the first level, he pulled off his Henley and wrapped it around the lower part of his head, covering his nose and mouth.

Bucky was already halfway up the fire escape by the time Alec got to the building.

He bitterly regretted the loss of his flames. If he had been able, he would have pulled the flames in the building back from threatening the cats.

Then he remembered the snow. Would that work? He reached inside, looking for the place he’d found the cold, and concentrated.

He could feel the water in the air condensing around dust particles and ash, forming delicates flakes of snow that fell onto the flames, sending them hissing back. He grinned. This was almost as much fun as dancing tiny seeds of flame between his fingers.

“Hey, a little help, here?”

He turned, startled, to see a rather disheveled Bucky carrying a smoke-streaked mother cat and three kittens.

As he lost concentration, he could feel the snow slipping away from him. He took the mother cat from Bucky and immediately tried to soothe her. “Shh, shh. We’ll find you and your babies a safe place.”

“I know just the place.”

 

~~~~

 

They left the cats with a charming older woman who kept trying to feed them both. Finally, Bucky was able to pry them both away by pleading another commitment, and promising faithfully to return for food and to check on the cats.

“They’ll enjoy living there.” Bucky smiled as they walked away from the building. _“Bunica_ loves cats.”

 _“Bunica._ Your grandmother?”

Bucky chuckled. “No, but she tries.”

“Ah.” He shook his head. There was some sort of buzzing in his ears. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Bucky looked at him with concern. “Are you all right?”

“I —” He frowned, unable to think. “What? I don’t —”

His vision grayed out. He thought he could hear Bucky shouting something, and then everything went black.

 

~~~~

 

“Alec. Alec? Are you all right?” Dayesi’s voice was accompanied by knocking on the door.

He moaned, trying to push his head under the pillow. Why did she have to be so _loud?_

Dayesi flung open the door. “If you aren’t going to answer me, then I’m coming in.”

He flinched at the noise. What the hell had happened? He tried to push himself up, but gray started to creep in around the edges of his sight and he gave up.

“Alec?” Dayesi’s voice was quieter, but still too loud for comfort.

He opened his eyes to see her blurry form leaning over him, haloed by intense light from the windows. A whimper escaped him. “Make it dark.”

Dayesi patted his hand. He heard her footsteps heading toward the windows, and then the sound of the drapes moving along the rod.

When she returned to his bedside, she pulled over the chair near the bed.

He was grateful. He didn’t think either his head or his stomach would survive the movement if she had climbed into bed with him.

Cool fingers caressed his brow. “You don’t have a fever. Migraine?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll get you some meds from Lilya. Don’t go anywhere.”

He listened to her leave the room. She didn’t seem to realize that he’d been gone. Had it all been a dream? Bucky, Loki, losing his flame, but gaining snow?

Sudden fear had him reaching for his flame, and he almost panicked before the familiar sensation of heat danced above his hand.

Maybe it had been just a dream.

 

~~~~

 

Bucky frowned. Alec looked like crap. “Why don’t you sit down?” He took Alec’s arm and headed toward a nearby bench.

Alec shook him off. “Who are — You’re the one I was going to help. Where are the guys we were fighting? Where are we?”

Bucky blinked at him in astonishment. Did Alec have some sort of multiple personality disorder? Was that why Loki said what he did about not expecting Alec to be in there? He scrambled for something to say. He didn’t know this Alec. “Uh, I think we won. I don’t know how we got here. Are you sure it wasn’t you? Are you some kind of mutant?”

“No, I’m not a mutant. Why would —” Alec broke off, frowning as he rubbed his chest. “Why does it feel like I swallowed an ice cube?”

Crap. It sounded like Loki’s ‘gift’ was permanent. “Maybe you should get that looked at.”

“Yeah. Maybe I should…” Alec trailed off, still looking at him in confusion. Then Alec shook his head and walked off, heading towards the street.

Bucky debated for all of a second before trailing after him. He had to make sure Alec got somewhere safe. Then he’d go to the market for some fresh plums. He was in the mood for coltunasi.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love reviews, comments, and any other sort of communication. Feel free to stop in to say hi. You can find me on Tumblr at leavesdancing.tumblr.com.


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